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Cut Line: Poults' Ryder rise; Slow play plague

In this week’s edition, Colonial enjoys a sponsorship reprieve, the Ryder Cup gets an early boost and it’s time for officials at the Zurich Classic to consider relocation.

Made Cut

See you in September. Just when you thought it might be too early to start the biennial Ryder Cup build up, Ian Poulter, Europe’s own Mr. September, gave the Continent something to celebrate with another solid finish last week at the RBC Heritage.

Although he failed to convert a 54-hole lead, tying for seventh after a closing 75, he earned enough points to move onto the European team bubble (world points), just behind current automatic qualifier Alex Noren.

That the English thorn in America’s Ryder Cup side made his move one week after Patrick Reed wrapped up his spot on the team with his victory at the Masters is all the reason one needs to imagine the possibilities.

Don’t mess with Texas. Although the PGA Tour is still a few weeks away from unveiling the overhauled 2018-19 schedule, a few more pieces fell into place this week.

According to multiple sources, officials at Colonial are poised to announce a new sponsorship agreement with Charles Schwab Corporation.

There had been some handwringing that the Fort Worth staple, which needed to scramble this season to find replacement sponsors when Dean & DeLuca ended its sponsorship of the event just two years into a six-year agreement, would be the victim of poor timing when the music stopped.

But officials are poised to announce the new long-term sponsorship deal on Monday and sources also confirmed that the event will remain in May, which had been another concern on the imminent overhaul of the Tour schedule.

Next up for the Tour: finding sponsors for The National and Houston Open.

Made Cut-Did Not Finish (MDF)

Location, location, location. The high on Friday in Farmingdale, N.Y., topped out at 47 degrees.

Cut Line doesn’t have to explain to his friends in the northeast how long winter has lingered this season, but it’s worth pointing out that with the PGA Championship moving to May next year these long cold spells could impact conditions at future venues, like Bethpage Black, which will host the 2019 PGA.

Although this year’s PGA, which will be played in August at Bellerive Country Club, won’t be impacted, when you consider that three of the next six championships are scheduled to be played in northern states, it’s beginning to seem more likely that geography is not on the PGA of America’s side.

Bayou breakthrough. If the field for this year’s Zurich Classic is any indication, the team format that officials introduced in 2017 remains popular, which is an encouraging sign for golf in New Orleans.

It’s time now for tournament officials to continue that progress and break free of TPC Louisiana, an uninspired layout that’s too far removed from the French Quarter and not exactly popular with players.

About a year ago, officials opened the South Course at City Park, a community-based program modeled after the East Lake project in Atlanta with a mission to revitalize City Park and the surrounding neighborhoods.

For years, insiders have considered the City Park layout, which was designed by Rees Jones, an alternative to TPC Louisiana. It’s time to stop talking about moving the event to City Park and make it happen. The tournament deserves better. The city deserves better.

Tweet(s) of the week: We go with a pair of hot takes from two of the game’s most insightful and thoughtful types on what remains one of golf’s most talked-about subjects – slow play.

It’s never going to change Kipper. The younger they get, seemingly the slower they get. Green books, checklists, fast greens, and wind. Nobody can pull the trigger, and don’t have to because there are no repercussions. Years in the making

Money trail. During his last year as commissioner of the PGA Tour, Tim Finchem earned a combined income of over $9 million.

According to the circuit’s tax forms filed for 2016, Finchem made $4.33 million in “reportable compensation” from the Tour and another $4.74 million from “related organizations.” He also earned $181,784 in “other compensation.”

Compared to 2015, when Finchem earned $5.9 million in combined income, that’s a healthy bump. To be fair, when Finchem retired after nearly 20 years of leading the circuit most observers agreed that the Tour’s unprecedented growth during his tenure justified his salary, and compared to other professional sports leagues the commissioner’s “take home” was not out of the ordinary.

It is, however, worth noting that Finchem earned more than just one player in 2016, Dustin Johnson, who narrowly clipped the commissioner with $9.3 million in on-course earnings. It’s good to be the commish, or former commish.